by Murphy Miller, March 8, 2020

​​Charles Darwin and his wife Emma were first cousins. A cousin marriage is a marriage where the partners are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited. Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins. (1) 
​
Accordingly, it is not uncommon to find cousin marriages in Southwest Louisiana.  Moreover, the lack of mobility until the mid-20th century facilitated intermarriages as people lived in the same geographic area from birth to death when the U.S. was predominately an agrarian society.  Parents frequently made room for a child by gifting property to farm.  First cousins lived in close proximity to each other.

Many people in southwest Louisiana are familiar with the Pierrottie families that began with Constantino Pierotti (1832-1892), also known as August Constant Pierotti.  He was from Italy and emigrated to America in hopes of earning enough money to return to Italy, perhaps to bring back loved ones so they too could escape the poor economy in Northern Italy.  His plan to settle in the ante-bellum South fell apart upon his 1855 arrival and later when he was drafted into the Civil War.

​Thirteen months following the end of the American Civil War between the states, in May 1866, Constantino married Stephanie “Fanny” Martel (1848-1936).  Stephanie is the daughter of Etienne Eugene Martel and Louise Mathilde Boutte.  She is one of eleven children born to this couple.  Her younger brother, Stephane Martel (1852-1934), married Ann Elizabeth Moore in 1877.  Stephane and Ann had six children, Etienne (1885-1970) and Theogene Martel (1885-1962), twins, were the third and fourth born to the couple.

​Theogene Martel married his first cousin Rosenia Pierotti, the daughter of Constantino Pierotti and Stephanie Martel, in 1910. This marriage had three children; Blanche (1911-1991), Louis Thomas Martel (1916-1989) and Aubry Theo Martel (1924-1988).  Their common ancestry is their grandparents, Etienne Eugene Martel and Louise Mathilde Boutte.

​Theogene and Rosenia are also 3rd cousins via the Chachere/Vauchere family lines.  Their common ancestry is their great great-grandparents Louis Dominique Chachere (1760-1827) and Catherine Vauchere (1764-1825).  The charts below better illustrate this marital union relationship.

The third union of the Pierotti family line and the Martel family line marrying are Gervis Paul Martel (1912-1994) and Mary Lillian Naquin (1923-1992).  Gervis is the son of Etienne (1885-1970), twin of Theogene, and his wife Clementine Savoy (1889-1935).  My mother, Mary L. Naquin (1923-1992), is the daughter of Olan Naquin (1904-1940) and Bernice Pierrottie (1904-1977), she the granddaughter of Constantino and Stephanie Martel.

​Gervis first married Ellenor Fontenot in 1931.  She died in 1937.  Gervis married Mary L. Naquin in 1948.  Gervis “Slim” Martel was a master carpenter.  He was employed as a Installation Superintendent and travel to the job to install store fixtures in stores like Macy’s.  In 1959, when he was 47 years old, he allowed me to live in his home with him, my mother and half-siblings.  Both he, my mother and the entire Brandon, FL community made a man out of a confused teenager.  He was not perfect, but he gave me the break I needed at the right time in my life. For that kindness, I am grateful.

​

Other Pierrottie blogs
Mary Pierrottie Soileau
Jane Bertrand Ortego
​Sister Cesira Pierotti
Ulysse Gabriel Pierrottie, A 33 year battle for his family's rights
​Louis David "L.D" Verrette Obituary
Betty Lou Deshotel Hollier Obituary
Donald Joseph Pierotti Obituary

Books
​Pierrottie / Pierrotti / Pierotti Family
​Pierrottie, Pierrotti, Pierotti Photos
Dominique Martel Southwest Louisiana Family

Constantino Pierotti Video

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THIS BLOG

Donald J. Pierrotti is the great grandson of the ​Constantino "Auguste Constant" Pierotti and Stephanie "Fanny" Martel. Donald's parents Marion Pierrotti, Sr. (1916-1992)  and Ethel Lebleu (1919-2011), daughter of Julin Lebleu and Evangeline Sonnier, were married in 1918.

Donald's father Marion and twin sister Mary were born in 1916, the fifth and sixth child of Constant Pierrotti and Avie Fuselier. Their siblings are Bernice (1904-1977), Virginia (1906-1994), Lula (1910-1994) and George (1912-1990)

Note: Last names spellings in this family include Pierotti, Pierrotti and Pierrottie.
--------------------Obituary----------------
​MAMOU-Funeral Services will be held at 2:00PM at Ardoin's Funeral Home in Mamou on Saturday, January 19, 2019, for Donald J. Pierrottie, 81, who passed away on Thursday, January 17, 2019 in Mamou, LA surrounded by his loved ones.

Chaplin Jeff White will conduct all funeral services.

Burial will take place in New St. Ann's Cemetery in Mamou.

Donald J. Pierrottie was born in Mamou, LA on October 25, 1937 to his parents Marion Pierrottie, Sr. and Ethel LeBleu Pierrottie. He served as a Production Foreman in the oil field for 35 years. Donald was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He spent his free time with his family hunting, fishing, and camping. He enjoyed taking pictures and capturing as many special moments as he could. He also liked doing projects around the house and loved to garden. 

He leaves behind to cherish his memory his loving wife, Jane Pierrottie of Mamou, one daughter, Kimberly Pierrottie of Mamou; two sons, Kenneth Pierrottie and wife Mona of Eunice and Greg Pierrottie and wife Kim of Terral, TX; six grandchildren. Tasha Johnson and husband Travis of Vidrine, Randi Fontenot and husband Jeremy of Ville Platte, Shae Pierrottie of Vidrine, Seth Pierrottie and wife Maggie of Vidrine, Hunter Pierrottie of Terral, TX, and Kenzie Pierrottie of Mamou; seven great grandchildren, Kaitlyn Johnson, Ava Johnson, Elliana Johnson, Maddox Johnson, Gage Fontenot, Maddie Fontenot, and Rhett Pierrottie.

Donald is preceded in death by his parents, Marion Pierrottie, Sr and Ethel LeBleu Pierrottie; and son, Rusty Pierrottie.
----------------------------------------
​See also Mary Pierrottie Soleau, Sister Cesira Pierotti, Ulysse G. Pierrottie, 
Jane Bertrand Ortego, Ubaldo Pierotti, Constantino Pierotti Video

PURCHASE: Pierrottie, Pierrotti, Pierotti Family book and Photos

Balthazar Martel, Jr. is the son of Barthelemy Balthazar Martel (1782-1838) and Louise Emilie Pouponne Chachere (v. 1790) and the younger brother of the well-known Civil War era Judge Barthelemy Amede Martel. His full name is Barthelemy Balthazar Martel, Jr. (1)
 
Balthazar Martel, Jr. married Hermina Bouillet, daughter of Gabriel Bouillet and Marie Antionette Pecot, in 1840. (2) They had three children, Gabrielle, Barthelemy Balthazar Martel, III and Jacques Sully Martel. Hermina died in 1906. Balthazar’s second wife was Virginia Davis. They married in 1867 and had three children; Arthur Gabriel, Marie Lyndia and Joseph Edouard. (3)

​Death of Balthazar Martel (4)
 
The Creoles [or a “descendant of the original settlers in Louisiana under the French and Spanish government…”], (5), are noted the world over for the large families that they raise. The following from the "People You Know" column of the States furnishes information in this line that is remarkable. The name is familiar in this parish and the statement will be read with interest by our people.
 
There died in Franklin, La., this week a man who should not disappear from history without a tribute being paid to his memory by the newspapers of the State. This was Hon. Balthazar Martel, aged 87 years, [actually 85 years old] (6) who enjoyed the unique distinction of having within his own immediate descendants fully 850 votes. And these votes are all in Louisiana. They are in a bunch in the St. Mary, St. Landry and St. Martin section of the country, and they are all creoles."
 
Mr. Martel, who has just died at the ripe old age of four score and seven, comes from one of the most ancient and distinguished of Louisiana families, reknowned [renowned] for its eminent services in peace and in war. His brother, Judge B.A. Martel, was a hero of the Attakapas region, and served for many years as judge of the St. Landry district when that region stretched from the prairies of Opelousas to the Texas State line, which, by the way, was then Mexico.
 
The son of the old patriarch who died is Judge J. Sully Martel, one of the most prominent attorneys of St. Mary parish.
 
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(1)  Southwest Louisiana Records (1750 – 1900). CD. Rev. Donald J. Hebert. Hebert Publications. P.O. Box 147, Rayne, LA 70578.
 
(2) Kim Mohler, Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Louisiana (Chicago, Illinois. The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1892)
 
(3) Southwest Louisiana Records (1750 – 1900)
 
(4) Le Courrier des Opelousas (newspaper), February 17, 1900
 
(5)  Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana, by Hanno Deiler, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1975, page 111.
 
(6) FindAGrave.com. Headstone states birth year 1813.
 
(7) Ancestry.com. Martel-Blackburn family. J. S. Martel, Jr.
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Purchase Martel Family book.

The subject of this sketch, the Hon. B. A. Martel, whose death was announced on the 5th inst., [abbreviation for instante mense meaning date of the current month] was born in the parish of St. Martin in this state on the 8th of March, 1819. His father Balthazar Martel, was a Creole of St. Domingo, and was one of the few gallant and brave men who escaped from that unhappy island during the revolution provoked by Toussant L'Ouverture (1), Desaline, Ringo and others. Balthazar Martel was then a young man and settled in the Attakapas, where he married Miss Emilie [Catherine Eleonor Chachere], daughter of Louis Chachere [Beaurepaire Prosper Chachere & Eugenie Alexandrine Lavergne] of St. Landry. Of this marriage there were six children. B. A. Martel being the fourth. In 1831 the family moved from St. Martinville to St. Landry, where the father of young Martel died of yellow fever in 1850. [Death year was difficult to read. Murphy Miller research supports death on January 12, 1838. Moreover, B. A. Martel was the fifth of nine children].
 
Young Amedee, although not the oldest son, took upon himself the care of his mother and three sisters; and in doing this the noble youth toiled with a perseverance and determination that outlined his future career. By various kinds of labor and skill he soon succeeded in placing his mother and sisters in a condition of comparative ease and he applied himself to the study of the civil law. For some time he was the pupil and protégé of the celebrated Gustave Schmidt of the New Orleans bar. Martel was admitted to practice in New Orleans and such was his desire to perfect himself in the knowledge of his profession that he sailed for France where he prosecuted his studies in the University of Toulouse until 1849. He then returned to his native home.
 
Being in France during the revolution of 1848, he learned much from the scenes enacted in his presence and he soon became familiar with the national character of the French people. This knowledge served him usefully on many trying occasions in after life. Having established himself at Opelousas soon after his return, he began the practice of his profession in earnest and was very successful, although he often met with unexpected opposition from some of the older members of that bar. But when these gentlemen thoroughly understood the ardor and warmth of his generous nature they regretted their former conduct toward him and even afterward became his personal friends. His industry and close application to business soon grained for him very many friends, and in 1854 he was elected to the state senate where he served with distinction until 1856. He was then elected judge of the Fifteenth judicial district, which comprised the territory of St. Landry, Lafayette, Vermillion, Calcasieu, Cameron and Acadia. Nowhere in the history of the profession is found a judge more determined to enforce the duties of his office.
 
The following proclamation will exemplify this assertion:
"The Laws of the Country must be sustained. Law-abiding Citizens of Calcasieu: I am in possession of reliable information that threats have been made and are in circulation, that the approaching term of your district court on next Monday is to be arrested by violence against your district judge on his way to Lake Charles."
 
"Now, therefore, this is to call on you to revindicate your rights and to stand by the laws and the officers whose duty it is to administer them. Let it be proclaimed at once by all the good people of your parish from your domestic roots to the sanctuary of your courthouse, that the law shall and must prevail from this time forward though the heavens fall."
 
"As to me, I know that I shall do my duty at all hazards."
"B. A. Martel,"
"Judge Fifteenth Judicial District"
"July 5 1859" [difficult to read date]
 
In the discharge of his duties he feared no man. The terror of Calcasieu and the outlaws of that epoch felt his power and were by him made to succumb and to respect the laws of Louisiana like other men. It is proverbial and it is a matter of fact, that his decisions as judge have never been disturbed by the supreme court except in two or three instances, and then only by modification. He held the judicial helm until the outbreak of the war.
 
In the strife for succession, Judge Martel took no part, except to prove by demonstrative argument the folly and danger of such a step and the terrible vicissitudes that would necessarily follow such political imprudence. Although a strong unionist he loved his native south, and especially his own Louisiana. He loved it too well to stand idly by and see the helpless wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of the brave fellows who were far, far away battling for their homes, insulted and plundered by the rabble jayhawkers of the Attakapas. He at once placed himself at the head of his company of sturdy reserves and in a very short while the country was rid of the last Jawhawker, and the homes of the helpless were no longer terrorized. Having taken up the sword he laid it aside only when the trumpet of peace declared that the struggle was over.
 
He now resumed his practice with wonderful success and won very many cases, both civil and criminal, which the entire bar considered absolutely hopeless. Remembering his earlier days and the kindness received at the hands of the New Orleans bar, especially his protector, Hon. Gustave Schmidt, Martel took under his care Pecora, who was in due time admitted to practice law. Pecora soon laid by his "cat skin" and is now famous among the detectives of New Orleans. He next took into his office a youth name Linny Hardy, who became one of the brightest lights of the profession. Hardy was, while a law partner of Judge Martel, elected secretary of state. The late judge of the Thirteenth district, Geo. W. Hudspeth, was another youth cared for by him. When Hudspeth took the bench about eight years ago, Judge Martel's last case, a few months ago, was an indictment for murder made against two brothers. They were acquitted.
 
Whilst the family resided at St. Martins young Martel had among his dearest playmates Alcibiades De Blanc (2), Edward Simon, Desaline and Mozart Bryant and Valisin Fournette, all of whom he loved tenderly all his life. Whilst very ill and up to the day of his death, he spoke in the kindest terms, with great emotion and often with tears of the many virtues of his old and tried friend, General Alcibiades De Blanc. During his last illness Judge Martel was kindly visited by Ex-Governor Nicholls. Generals Robert Perry (3), Allen Thomas (4) and all the members of the Opelousas bar, all of whom he was most happy to see. Having afterwards learned that Governor Nicholls spoke of him in connection with General Alcibiades De Blanc, he raised his hand to his brow to cover the emotion and said, "It makes me very happy to know that Governor Nicholis has been so kind as to associate m name with that of such a great and good man."
 
During the whole of Judge Martel's life he was noted for his firm adhesion to the principles of the Democratic party. Whenever he led his party he was sure of success.
 
Being a noted leader he despised anything like double-faced Democracy. Brave and fearless in politics as in manhood, he loved plain sailing, honesty of purpose being his unerring compass. His political coat was never turned, but in the hour of need was always pulled off for the honest fray. The Democracy of St. Landry can well mourn the loss of a Martel.
 
Being poor in his youth his heart warmed to those whose days began as his days did and his office, his home and his purse were ever open to them. Indeed, he lived to see many rich fruits of his generosity. To the widow and the orphan Judge Martel was ever known to render relief and fatherly protection. In all matters of charity, he was exemplary.
 
He was singularly remarkable for his love of children. His great delight was in pleasing them whenever he could. He was known to spend many dollars in taking them to all kinds of places of amusement. On Mardi Gras and at Christmas he was the idol of the little ones. This, as well as his other virtues, gained love, affection and esteem, all of which was clearly shown at his burial. His last breath bid love and devotion to all his friends and acquaintances.
 
Purchase Martel Family of Louisiana. See Lulu.com also.
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Murphy Miller Comment.
Judge B. A. Martel was a Unionist, i.e. not a Confederate sympathizer, yet the people mentioned as his close friends were Jean Maximilien Alcibiades Derneville DeBlanc, Allen Thomas and Judge Robert Samuel Perry, Jr. all who served in the Confederate Army.
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The following from Wikipedia.com and FindAGrave.com
(1) Toussaint L'Ouverture, Toussaint-Louverture, Toussaint Bréda, and nicknamed the "Napoléon Noir" (Black Napoleon), was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into the independent state of Haiti.  The success of the Haitian Revolution shook the institution of slavery throughout the New World.
 
Toussaint Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue; he was by then a free black man. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Toussaint switched allegiance to the French when they abolished slavery. He gradually established control over the whole island and used political and military tactics to gain dominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. He restored the plantation system using paid labour, negotiated trade treaties with Britain and the United States, and maintained a large and well-disciplined army.
 
In 1801 he promulgated an autonomist constitution for the colony, with himself as governor for life. In 1802 he was forced to resign by forces sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to restore French authority in the former colony. He was deported to France, where he died in 1803. The Haitian Revolution continued under his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence in early 1804. The French had lost two-thirds of forces sent to the island in an attempt to suppress the revolution; most died of yellow fever.
 
 (2) Jean Maximilien Alcibiades Derneville DeBlanc (September 16, 1821- November 8, 1883) was a lawyer and state legislator in Louisiana. He served as a colonel for the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Afterward, he founded the Knights of the White Camellia, a white insurgent militia that operated from 1867-69 to suppress freedmen's voting, disrupt Republican Party political organizing and try to regain political control of the state government in the 1868 election. A Congressional investigation overturned 1868 election results in Louisiana.
 
But DeBlanc continued to oppose the Reconstruction effort; he was influential in commanding 600 men to oppose the disputed election of Governor William Pitt Kellogg in 1874 and try to seat the Democrats. He was briefly arrested and held by U.S. Marshals. In 1876 he was appointed by Democratic governor
 
(3) Robert Samuel Perry (Jr.) was the son of Robert Samuel Perry and Ezemily Booth. In 1870 (in St. Martinsville, LA) he married Marie Antionette "Bertha" Gary (1848 -1878). She was the daughter of Pierre Gary and Helene Briant. Her family lived in St. Martinsville, LA, so it's likely she was buried there. Robert and Bertha were the parents of three children: Bertha, Lelia (who married Eugene Martinez) and Joseph Robert.
 
Robert received the best education the schools of Louisiana afforded, and subsequently graduated from Kentucky Military Institute, at the age of 19 years. After completing his literary education, he entered the law school at the University of Louisville, where he took a course of lectures, and afterward entered a law office in Anderson, TX, where he pursued the study of law for about a year. He never practiced there, however, and returned shortly afterward to Vermilion Parish, where he remained until the Civil War broke out.
 
Robert enlisted as a private in Company C, of the Eighth Louisiana Regiment, and in August of that year was made first lieutenant. He served during the whole war in the Army of Northern Virginia. Nov. 7, 1863, he was captured at Rappahannock, and held prisoner at Johnson Island for nineteen months, where he was at the close of the war.
 
In 1866, he moved to St. Martin Parish and then to Iberia in 1871. In 1879 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and served until 1884. He introduced the first bill providing for the regulation of railroads in Louisiana. In 1888 he was elected by the Legislature Judge of the court of Appeals of the Third Circuit of Louisiana.
 
After his wife Bertha died, he remarried Camille Vedrines of New Iberia on Jan. 1, 1883. Camille died the following October. The Confederate Museum at Lee Circle in New Orleans has a daguerreotype portrait of Robert in uniform.
 
Judge Perry entered the Confederate army in 1861 as adjutant of the 8th La. Regt., and served with marked distinction throughout the war, in which the Louisiana brigade took a most active part in Virginia where they formed a part of Stonewall Jackson's "foot cavalry" under the immortal Lee, in the famous Valley campaign.
 
(4) Allen Thomas (December 14, 1830 - December 3, 1907) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was born in Howard County, Maryland and became a lawyer but he moved to Louisiana in the later 1850s and became a planter and colonel in the Louisiana militia. After the war, he was a planter, Presidential elector in 1872 and 1880, professor of agriculture at Louisiana State University and coiner at the United States Mint at New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to Florida in 1889. Between 1894 and 1897, he was United States Minister to Venezuela. He moved to Mississippi in 1907 and died there in that year. He was buried at Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

Another Martel blog.
See additional information on B.A. Martel and his children from his slave and
mixed race offspring in Chachere family.

Purchase Martel Family of Louisiana.
​Purchase Chachere Family book.

Wilda Anna Martel died at a Tampa hospital on October 29, 2016. She was born in Eunice, LA to Gervis P. "Slim" Martel and Ellenor Fontenot on April 23, 1935.

She is survived by her half-sister, Sandra Martel Roger and husband Nick of Tampa; three stepsiblings; one half-nephew; and four half-grand nephews and nieces.

Wilda Anna was preceded in death by her parents Gervis and Ellenor; her loving stepmother and caretaker, Lillian Martel; her caretaker and great-grandmother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy; her half-brothers, Rawland and John Martel; and her half-niece, Tara Spicer Mramor.

She will join all her heavenly family in a reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7. "I will make the lame (people with disabilities) my remnant…" They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Quirk & Son Funeral Home in Eunice. Interment will be in Savoy
Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held in Eunice in March of 2017.

At the time of her birth Ellenor Fontenot and her husband Gervis Martel knew that she was God's special gift. Wilda Anna Martel was born in April 1935. Her father, 23 years old at the time and working at what men did at that age for family income. It was three years after Huey Long completed his Governorship term and was now a U.S. Senator. Huey Long was planning to challenge F.D. Roosevelt for the Presidency until his assassination in September 1935. All people were struggling to make ends meet during the depression. It was going to become more challenging for this Martel family.
 
Gervis and Ellenor married in 1931. They were probably unaware that they were 2nd cousins. Their common ancestry is Pierre Savoy (1832-1876) and Eugenie Miller (1836-1924). Eugenie Miller is a descendant of Jacob Miller and Anne Marie Thaison/Theigen.
 
Wilda Anna was almost 2 1/2 years old when her mother Ellenor died in December 1937.  Ellenor was two months shy of 22 years old. Gervis probably had help while attending to a sick wife and an infant daughter. Ellenor's father and mother, David Fontenot and Anna Savoy probably lived nearby. Anna's mother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy was also nearby. Ernestine's husband, Julien, Wilda Anna's great grandfather, died in 1933.
 
Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, is the final resting place for all persons mentioned in this family. Wilda Anna's great grandmother, died in 1964. Prior to his death in 1994, Gervis, aka "Slim" and "Marty", made plans for Wilda Anna's burial. Her eternal resting place is between him and her great grandmother; Tante Ernestine. That  was what she was called by family member. My mother introduced me to her in the mid-1950s. It was courtesy at that time  to call her "Tante"  because my step-father Gervis called her "Tante". I did not know it at the time but Tante Ernestine was my half 3rd cousin once removed. Our common ancestry is Pierre Placide Savoy and Abelaide Babineaux.
 
Very near Ernestine's tomb is her daughter Anna Savoy Fontenot and Anna’s husband David A. Fontenot. Ellenor Fontenot, their daughter is buried nearby. Ellenor's obituary printed in the Eunice News clearly states that she was married to Gervis Martel. We may never know why Ellenor’s headstone excluded her married name - Martel.
 
My step-father Gervis never talked about the difficulties encountered after his 1st wife's death nor the challenges he faced prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Navy in October 1942. He was honorably discharged in September 1945. Many young men in his age group felt a responsibility to defend their country in WW II.
 
Gervis made pay grade E-6, 1st Class Petty Officer, Carpenter's Mate, during his 3 year hitch. The USS Carina, on which Gervis served most of his enlistment, a cargo ship, supported the Pacific Fleet. It was hit by the enemy several times. A Carpenter's Mate was responsible for the ship's repair while at sea. The USS Carina received three battle stars for WW II service, thus it saw battle action with the enemy on more than one occasion. With the skills learned in the Navy, Gervis worked as a carpenter after his discharge.
 
Wilda Anna was cared for and living in Tante Ernestine's old farm house near Eunice when I first met her in the 1950's. It was out in the country. The house seemed very large with a huge fire place. There was a walkway to the kitchen, a smaller building near the large house. My mother, Mary Lillian Naquin, married Gervis, known as "Slim" to many, in 1948, shortly after her divorce from my father, Murphy Miller, Sr.
 
Also in the 1950's Gervis was offered employment with a Tampa firm that manufactured and installed retail store decor and floor display units. He purchased property near Brandon, FL where the family relocated in 1957. Wilda Anna was still in LA. After Gervis and Lillian became FL residents, Wilda Anna too was relocated to FL. She was in a State home in Marianne, FL, then Acadia, FL. She later resided in a Fort Myers home serving people with developmental disabilities for about 45 years. Wilda Anna relocated to Tampa for health reasons in 2006.
 
Gervis Martel and family came often to visit family in LA. His brother Dewey owned the Shell station on Hwy 190. In June 1957 the Gervis Martel family stayed with Dewey and his wife Rose Sittig as Hurricane Audrey delivered its destruction to Eunice. Vellion "Popsi" Martel and his wife Virginia LeDoux were included in the family visits. Prior to their deaths, Gervis' father Etienne and his twin brother Theogene, attended a family gathering in 1952.
 
At 81.5 years old, Wilda Anna will be laid to rest in Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, LA.  Her earthly struggles are over. She will join all her family in a heavenly reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7 (NIRV). " 'The time is coming when I will gather those who are disabled,' announces the LORD. 'I will bring together those who were taken away as prisoners. I will gather those I have allowed to suffer. I will make the disabled my faithful people. I will make those who were driven away from their homes a strong nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion. I will be their King from that time on and forever.' " They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

More information on the Martel Family of Louisiana can be found on Lulu.com.

CHACHERE  (Story from Sittig Family Tree, Ancestry.com)
Pronunciation: SASH-uh-ree    Purchase Chachere book; details
Origin: French Creole
Arrived in Louisiana: by late 1780s
Pioneer Ancestor(s) in Louisiana: Louis-Dominique CHACHERE
Settled: Pointe Coupee; Atakapas District; Opelousas District, now St. Landry Parish
Acadian connection: BERNARD, DAVID, PITRE
Comments: Family legend says that Louis-Dominique CHACHERE, son of Louis CHACHERE and Marie DUMOND of Paris, "was a French immigrant, arriving [in Louisiana] in the late 1700s," that "there is also some question as to whether his original ... name was CHACHERE or some combination of his original name and his wife's name, to avoid detection by French authorities who may have been hunting him." Louis-Dominique married Catherine, daughter of Jean-Baptiste VAUCHERE, probably in the middle or late 1780s. Their son Louis III was born in January 1788 and baptized at Pointe Coupée the following June. The Pointe Coupée priest who recorded the boy's baptism noted that his parents were "of Post at Natchez," which was upriver from Pointe Coupée near the present-day city bearing the name. The couple soon moved across the Atchafalaya Basin to the Atakapas District, where daughters Louise-Émilie, born in February 1790, Louise or Lise, sometimes called Pouponne, in January 1792, and Marie-Mathilde, called Mathilde, in May 1792[sic], were baptized in July and August 1794 at the church in present-day St. Martinville.

In May 1796, a Spanish census taker counted Louis-Dominique and his family not in the Atakapas District but in the Church sub-district of the Opelousas District, north of Atakapas. According to the census report, Louis-Dominique and Catherine had one son, three daughters, and a female slave. That November, second son Julien-Lile, called Lile, was baptized at the Opelousas church.

Louis-Dominique and Catherine had more children in the early 1800s, all born in the Opelousas District, now St. Landry Parish: Félix-Veillon or Veillon-Félix, in 1801, Beaurepaire-Prosper, called Prosper, in 1803, Laure in March 1808, and Marguerite Hermance, called Hermance, in April 1811. They also had a son named Constant and daughters Hyacinthe and Irma, birth dates and baptisms unrecorded, though Irma could have been Laure.

Most of Louis-Dominique CHACHERE many children survived childhood, married, and created families of their own. Daughter Lise married fellow French Creole Jean Louis or Leon, called Leon, son of Antoine BOUTTE of Atakapas, at the Opelousas church in June 1809. Marie-Louise [sic, probably Louise-Émilie] married Barthélemy, son of Baltazar MARTEL of St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, at the Opelousas church in September 1809. Louis-Dominique's daughter Irma, age unrecorded, died at Opelousas in March 1810. Mathilde married Antoine, fils, another son of Antoine BOUTTE, at the Opelousas church in February 1818. Hyacinthe married cousin Jacques BACON, fils of Natchez at the Opelousas church in January 1821; Jacques, fils's mother was Marguerite VAUCHERE.
In December 1822, Louis Dominique's third son Veillon married Marie Eloise, sometimes called Eloise, daughter of French Creole Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish. Veillon's son Louis Félix Veillon was born near Grand Coteau in March 1824, Félix near Opelousas in February 1832, Théogene in December 1835, Octave in February 1845, Henri in August 1847, and Joseph in April 1855. They also had another son named Joseph, born probably in January 1834. Louis Dominique's second son Lile married Emerante, daughter of Acadians Jean-Baptiste DAVID and Scholastique SAVOIE, at the Opelousas church in January 1825; the priest who recorded the marriage noted that Lile's mother, Chaterine WOCHERES[sic], was deceased at the time of the wedding. Lile's son Julien had been born in St. Landry Parish in December 1824, twins Adolphe and Rodolphe were born in November 1825, Prosper le jeune in January 1836, and another son named Julien in January 1844. Louis Dominique's daughter Hermance married Dominique Contini SITTIG, fils from the Hague, Netherlands, at the Opelousas church in November 1827. Louis Dominique's third son, Prosper, who had settled at Prairie Bellevue, married Eugenie, sometimes called Alexandrine, another daughter of Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church in December 1827. Their son Théodore was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1830, Prosper, fils in April 1835, Homer in July 1837, Alexandre in March 1842, Louis Amédée in September 1844, and Félix le jeune in May 1850. Louis Dominique's son Constant married Célestine, yet another daughter of Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church in September 1831. Their son Théodose was born near Grand Coteau in September 1832, Valery near Opelousas in July 1834, Anatole in August 1846, and Louis was baptized at the Grand Coteau church in July 1856. Veillon's son Louis Veillon married Emma, daughter of Adelard BOUTTE, at the Opelousas church in April 1845; Emma's mother was a RICHARD. Prosper's son Théodore married Clementine or Ernestine, daughter of George BENGUEREL, at the Opelousas church in January 1855. Their son Robert was baptized at the Opelousas church at age 5 months in May 1856, Homer was born near Opelousas in May 1859, Gustave in October 1861, and Eugene in June 1864. Veillon's son Félix married Amelie, daughter of Pierre PITRE, at the Opelousas church in June 1855. Their son Pierre Numa was born near Opelousas in December 1855, and Félix Welly in June 1860. Constant's son Théodose married Pérrinse or Petrina, daughter of Jean Baptiste YOUNG, at the Opelousas church in August 1856. Their son Raymond was born near Opelousas in July 1857, Jackson Théodose in June 1859, and Théodore le jeune in July 1861. Lile's son Rodolphe married 20-year-old first cousin Louise Josephine Baptiste, daughter of his uncle Prosper CHACHERE, at the Opelousas church in May 1859. Their son Albert Lile was born near New Iberia, then part of St. Martin Parish, in May 1860, Adolphe Bennett near Opelousas in March 1862, and Théodore Mozart in September 1865. Lile died near New Iberia in February 1860; the New Iberia priest who recorded his burial said he was 70 years old, but he was in 60s. When the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted chattel property in the summer of 1860, Prosper's widow Eugenie and his son Théodore were holding slaves, so Prosper must have died by then. Veillon's son Joseph married Elodie, another daughter of Pierre PITRE, at the Opelousas church in September 1861. Veillon's son Félix died in St. Landry Parish in August 1862; he was only 30 years old. Prosper's son Anatole died at his home on Prairie Bellevue, St. Landry Parish, in January 1865; he was only 18 years old and never married. Joseph Chenier, son of Louis CHACHERE, a free man of color, died at age 5 months in December 1864. Prosper's son Ernest by Céleste CHENIER married Marie, daughter of Hippolyte CHENIER, at the Opelousas church in October 1865; the parish clerk who recorded the union in the civil record the day before the church wedding described both Ernest and Marie as free persons of color.
Meanwhile, the priest who recorded Hermance CHACHERE's marriage in November 1827 noted that not only the bride's mother but also her father, whom he called Louis Dominique, was deceased at the time of the marriage. So Louis Dominique, the progenitor of the CHACHERE's in Louisiana, died probably in 1827, age unrecorded. His succession record was filed in the courthouse at Opelousas in November 1827. Another succession record for Louis CHACHERE was filed at the Franklin courthouse, St. Mary Parish, in April 1830, so Louis-Dominique owned property in that parish as well. (It could not have been the succession record of Louis III, because he was recorded by the Opelousas priest in July 1831 as standing as godfather to brother Julien's daughter, Scholastique. Louis III probably never married.) Yet another estate record for Louis CHACHERE was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in December 1836.

Some of Louis Dominique CHACHERE's descendants were part of the "peculiar institution" of the antebellum South. In September 1850, the federal census taker in the Western District of Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--a 35-year-old black male--on Rodolphe CHACHERE's farm in that parish. In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 13 slaves--6 males, 7 females, 11 blacks, 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 65 to 1--on Lile CHACHERE's farm in the parish. That November, the same census taker counted 12 slaves--5 males, 7 females, all blacks, ages 70 to 1--on Veillon CHACHERE's farm, and 2 slaves--a 45-year-old black female, & a 20-year-old black female--on Constant CHACHERE's farm. A decade later, in 1860, CHACHEREs still held slaves. The federal census taker counted 13 slaves--8 males, 5 females, 9 blacks, 4 mulattoes, ages 50 to 2--on Veillon CHACHERE's farm. Next door, Celina CHACHERE held 2 slaves--a 40-year-old black male, and a 30-year-old black female. Constant CHACHERE held 3 slaves--2 54-year-old black males, and a 30-year-old black female--on his farm. Prosper CHACHERE's widow Eugenie held 4 slaves--a male and 3 females, all black, ages 50 to 8--on her farm. Next door, Prosper's son Théodore held 3 more slaves--a 50-year-old black female, and 2 black males, ages 9 and 4--on his farm. Telia CHACHERE owned a single slave--a 14-year-old black male.

A number of Louis Dominique CHACHERE's grandsons served Louisiana and the Southern Confederacy during the War Between the States. Veillon's sons Joseph and Théogene, and Prosper's son Alexandre served in Company F of the 8th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in St. Landry Parish that fought with General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Alexandre, only 19 years old and single, enlisted in the company as a private when it was formed in June 1861 and was elected ordnance sergeant in April 1862. He was wounded in action at Sharpsburg, Maryland, on 17 September 1862 and fell into the hands of the enemy, recuperated from his wounds at federal hospitals in Maryland, stayed for a short time in the federal prisoner-of-war camps at Fort McHenry, Maryland, and Fort Monroe, Virginia, was exchanged at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, in November 1862, and went home on a 30-day sick furlough, and did not return to his unit. Cousin Théogene, age 26 and single, also enlisted in the company as a private in June 1861. Later that month, he was assigned as a hospital steward. The following October, the Confederate Secretary of War assigned him to the medical corps as an assistant surgeon, so he must have had medical training. Brother Joseph enlisted in the company as a private in March 1862; he was 28 years old and still single. His time in the company was cut short when he was accidentally run over by an ambulance at Malvern Hill, Virginia, on 1 July 1862, the day of the great battle there. After he recuperated from his injuries, he returned to Louisiana on a 30-day sick furlough and also remained at home. Their wounds and injuries did not end the military service of Alexandre and Joseph, however. They both enlisted in Company I of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, a front-line unit from St. Mary Parish that saw service in Louisiana and Mississippi and in which cousins Rodolphe, son of Lile, and Théodose, son of Contant, also served. J. L. CHACHERE, whose relationship to the other members of the family cannot be determined by the area's church records, also served in Company I, 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Cavalry. Prosper's son Théodore, Alexandre's older brother, served in Company I of the 26th Louisiana Regiment Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafourche Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1862-63. Another unit that held a number of CHACHEREs was the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, created late in the War, in March 1864, not only to increase the number of cavalry units serving in Louisiana but also to roundup deserters and suppress Jayhawker bands on the South Louisiana prairies. Three CHACHEREs served in this regiment, all sons of Veillon: Louis Veillon as a sergeant in Company H, and Octave and Henri as privates in Company D. Although CHACHEREs were wounded in Confederate service, no descendant of Louis CHACHERE, fils died in the War.

Tony CHACHERE, a pharmaceutical salesman-turned insurance agent and direct descendant of Louis Dominique CHACHERE, published Cajun Country Cookbook in 1972. His company, Tony CHACHERE's Creole Foods, started that year in Opelousas to produce and distribute food products based on his style of cooking. The company is now run by CHACHERE's descendants, and its success has made this Cajun family a household name.

The family's name also is spelled Chache, Chacherez, Chassere, and Schasseret.

Sources: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, St. Landry Parish; BRDR, 2:181; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Chachere's; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:174, 1-B:168-69, 2-A:213; 2-B:206-07, 2-C:168-70, 831, 3:137-38, 4:95, 5:114, 6:114-16, 7:86-87; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 361; Hank Smith, descendant, source of family legend.

[See December 2013 blog for related article]